The technology described herein relates generally to wireless networking. More particularly, the technology relates generally to utilization of subcarriers in Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) frames in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN).
A WLAN is being standardized by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Part 11 under the name of “Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications.” A series of standards have been adopted as the WLAN evolved, including IEEE Std 802.11™-2012 (March 2012) (hereinafter, IEEE 802.11). The IEEE Std 802.11™-2012 was subsequently amended by IEEE Std 802.11ae™-2012, IEEE Std 802.11aa™-2012, IEEE Std 802.11ad™-2012, and IEEE Std 802.11ac™-2013 (hereinafter, IEEE 802.11ac). These standards are each hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
The standards committee continues to work on new standards to improve upon the previously adopted standards. For example, the standards committee is currently working on IEEE 802.11ax that will define a high efficiency WLAN for enhancing the system throughput in high-density environments.